Shear Management Gloves

ABSTRACT

A glove provides high palm shear force and reduced finger shear force when pulling elongated articles such as a rope, a rod, and the like. A high shear material is applied to a glove palm and a low shear material is applied to inner glove finger surfaces. The fingers are still used to grasp the elongated article, but the shear pulling force on the fingers is reduced and the shear pulling force on the palm is increased. In one embodiment, the high shear material on the palm is a silicone material and the low shear material on the inner finger surfaces is a ballistic material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gloves and in particular to utilitygloves having a high shear material attached to the palm and a low shearmaterial attached to fingers.

Gloves are often used to grasp and pull elongated articles such asropes, hoses, bars, and the like. Known gloves include moderate to highshear surfaces on palms and inner finger surfaces to both grasp and pullsuch elongated articles. The resulting shear forces on the palm andfingers is usually moderate. However, when greater pulling force isrequired, the grasping by the fingers necessary to provide normal forcerequired to prevent slipping results in very high shear forces on thefingers which may weaken the wearer's grip and cause fatigue, pain, andwhen experienced frequently or over a long period of time, damage tofinger joints.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing aglove which provides high palm shear force and reduced finger shearforce when pulling elongated articles such as a rope, a rod, and thelike. A high shear material is applied to palm and a low shear materialis applied to inner finger surfaces. The fingers are still used to graspthe elongated article, but the shear pulling force on the fingers isreduced and the shear pulling force on the palm is increased. In oneembodiment, the high shear material on the palm is a silicone materialand the low shear material on the inner finger surfaces is a ballisticmaterial.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided aglove with a low shear material on inner finger grasping surfaces. Whenexerting high pulling forces on an elongated article, shear forces onthe fingers may weaken the wearer's grip and cause fatigue, pain, andwhen experienced frequently or over a long period of time, damage tofinger joints. Providing a low shear material on the inner fingersurfaces allows a strong grip while reducing the harmful shear forces onthe fingers. An example of a low shear material is a ballistic material.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided aglove with a high shear material on a glove palm. A combination of a lowshear material on the inner finger surfaces, and the high shear materialon the glove palm, allows the wearer to tightly grasp the elongatedarticle using the fingers and generate significant shear force throughthe palm without producing harmful shear forces on the fingers. Apreferred low shear material on the fingers has one fourth the grip(e.g., transmits about one fourth of the shear force) of the high shearmaterial on the palm. One example of the low shear material includes anaramid fiber material sold under the trademark Kevlar® and anotherexample includes Kevlar® and nylon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following more particulardescription thereof, presented in conjunction with the followingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a back of hand view of a shear management glove accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a palm of hand view of the shear management glove accordingto the present invention.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding componentsthroughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated forcarrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in alimiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one ormore preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the inventionshould be determined with reference to the claims.

In the description the terms up and down correspond to towards thefingers and away from the fingers respectively.

A back of hand view of a shear management glove 10 according to thepresent invention is shown in FIG. 1 and a palm of hand view of theshear management glove 10 is shown in FIG. 2. The shear management glove10 addresses issues present in known gloves by providing a high frictionpalm surface 18 which increases the share of shear force communicatedbetween the palm 11 and an elongated article, and a low friction innerfinger surface material 16 a-16 d which decreases the amount of shearforce communicated between the fingers and the elongated article. Highshear force communicated between the fingers and the elongated articlemay weaken the wearer's grip and cause fatigue, pain, and whenexperienced frequently or over a long period of time, damage to fingerjoints.

The shear management glove 10 includes a glove body 17 which preferablyis an open finger and thumb design allowing a wearer's fingers to extendthrough ends of glove fingers 12 a-12 d and the wearer's thumb to extendthrough an end of the glove thumb 14. The shear management glove 10further preferably includes a wrist strap 20 for tightening the shearmanagement glove 10 on the wearer's hand. The shear management glove 10is preferably a tight skin-like fit minimize or prevent an inner surface22 of the shear management glove 10 from sliding on the wearer's hand.

The inner finger surface material 16 a-16 d resides on the glove fingers12 a-12 d facing the palm 11 when the fingers are closed. The innerfinger surface material 16 a-16 d preferably reach along the glovefingers 12 a-12 d nearly to the bases 13 of the fingers, and out alongthe fingers 12 a-12 d nearly to the ends of the glove fingers 12 a-12 d,and the inner finger surface material 16 a-16 d is nearly the widths ofthe glove fingers 12 a-12 d. The inner finger surface material 16 a-16 dis preferably a strong low friction material, for example a ballisticmaterial, minimizing the shear forces on the wearer's fingers. In oneembodiment, the inner finger surface material 16 a-16 d reaches to theends of the fingers 12 a-12 d. A suitable material is sold under thename Ballistic Material by Zhongshan Hongxu Daily Products Co., Ltd inZhongshan City, China.

The palm surface 18 reaches up to within about ¼ to ½ inch from thebases 13 of the fingers and down to within about ¼ to ½ inch from thebase 15 of the glove thumb 14, and across the shear management glove 10to within about ¼ to ½ inch from the end of the thumb 14 to the oppositeside of the palm 11. The palm surface 18 is preferably a high frictionmaterial, for example a silicone material, or a polyurethane siliconeblend, communicating the shear forces to the wearer's palm. A suitablematerial is Silicone PU manufactured by Zhongshan Hongxu Daily ProductsCo., Ltd in Zhongshan City, China. In one embodiment, the palm surface18 communicates about four times the shear force to the wearer's palmthat the inner finger surface material 16 a-16 d conducts to thewearer's fingers.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modificationsand variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

I claim:
 1. A shear management glove comprising: a glove body; glovefingers extending from the glove body; and low friction materialattached to inner surfaces of the glove fingers, the low frictionmaterial configured to cover nearly all of a surface of the glovefingers making contact with an elongated article when the glove is wornwhile grasping the elongated article, the low friction material reducingshear forces between the glove fingers and the elongated article.
 2. Theshear management glove of claim 1, wherein the low friction materialreaches down nearly to bases of the glove fingers.
 3. The shearmanagement glove of claim 2, wherein: the glove is an open finger glove;and the low friction material reaches up nearly to ends of the glovefingers.
 4. The shear management glove of claim 3, wherein the lowfriction material reaches down proximal to the bases of the glovefingers.
 5. The shear management glove of claim 4, wherein the lowfriction material reaches nearly the widths of the glove fingers
 6. Theshear management glove of claim 5, wherein the low friction material isa ballistic material.
 7. The shear management glove of claim 1, whereinthe glove includes four fingers, the low friction material residing onthe inner surfaces of each of the four fingers.
 8. The shear managementglove of claim 7, wherein the four fingers are open fingers.
 9. Theshear management glove of claim 1, further including a high frictionmaterial attached to a glove palm of the glove.
 10. The shear managementglove of claim 9, wherein the high friction material reaches up towithin about ¼ to ½ inch from the bases of the fingers.
 11. The shearmanagement glove of claim 10, wherein the high friction material reachesdown to within about ¼ to ½ inch from a base of the glove thumb.
 12. Theshear management glove of claim 11, wherein the high friction materialreached nearly to an end of the glove thumb.
 13. The shear managementglove of claim 12, wherein the high friction material reached across theglove palm to nearly a side opposite to the glove thumb.
 14. The shearmanagement glove of claim 13, wherein the high friction material is asilicone material.
 15. The shear management glove of claim 13, whereinthe high friction material is a polyurethane silicone blend.
 16. Theshear management glove of claim 9, wherein the high friction material onthe palm has about four times the grip of the low friction material onthe fingers.
 17. The shear management glove of claim 9, wherein the highfriction material on the palm communicates about four times the shearforce of the low friction material on the fingers.
 18. A shearmanagement glove comprising: a glove body; glove fingers extending fromthe glove body; low friction ballistic material attached to innersurfaces of the glove fingers, the low friction material configured tocover nearly all of a surface of the glove fingers making contact withan elongated article when the glove is worn while grasping the elongatedarticle and reducing shear forces between the glove fingers and theelongated article; and high friction silicone material attached to aglove palm of the glove, the high friction material configured to covernearly all the glove palm making contact with the elongated article whenthe glove is worn while grasping the elongated article and increasingshear forces between the glove palm and the elongated article, the highfriction material communicating about four times the shear force to thepalm that the low friction material communicates to the fingers.
 19. Ashear management glove comprising: a glove body; open ended glovefingers extending up from the glove body; an open ended glove thumbextending laterally from the glove body; low friction material attachedto inner surfaces of the glove fingers, the low friction materialreaching: up nearly to ends of the glove fingers; down proximal to basesof the glove fingers; and nearly the widths of the glove fingers; andhigh friction material having about four times the grip of the lowfriction material attached to a glove palm of the glove, the highfriction material reaching: up to within about ¼ to ½ inch from thebases of the glove fingers; down to within about ¼ to ½ inch from a baseof the glove thumb; nearly to an end of the glove thumb; and across theglove palm to nearly a side opposite to the glove thumb.